Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme that was started by @Lauren’s Page Turners but is now currently being hosted by Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog. This meme is quite easy to follow – just randomly pick a book from your to-be-read list and give the reasons why you want to read it. It is that simple.

This week’s book:

Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre

Blurb from Goodreads

Nausea is the story of Antoine Roquentin, a French writer who is horrified at his own existence. In impressionistic, diary form he ruthlessly catalogues his every feeling and sensation about the world and people around him.

His thoughts culminate in a pervasive, overpowering feeling of nausea which “spread at the bottom of the viscous puddle, at the bottom of our time, the time of purple suspenders and broken chair seats; it is made of wide, soft instants, spreading at the edge, like an oil stain.”

Roquentin’s efforts to try and come to terms with his life, his philosophical and psychological struggles, give Sartre the opportunity to dramatize the tenets of his Existentialist creed.

The introduction for this edition of Nausea by Hayden Carruth gives background on Sartre’s life and major works, a summary of the principal themes of Existentialist philosophy, and a critical analysis of the novel itself.

Why I Want To Read It

Happy Monday everyone! I know that many of us wish that the weekends can extend for one day more. But that is all wishful thinking as we have to face up to our responsibilities, adult responsibilities that is. Adulting sure is no walk in the park. HAHA. Anyway, I hope you all had a great start to the week. And wow! I just realized today is the last Monday of June and by the end of this work week, we are going to greet a new month. Time does fly fast. Anyway, I hope that everyone is doing well, in body, mind, and spirit. There is a bit of a surge here in the Philippines but it seems that everybody has adjusted their mindset. Trains are brimming. Nearly everyone is reporting to the office. Malls are teeming with activities. While I understand that protocols are in place, I hope that everyone still observes minimum health protocols. I just hope that the pandemic, with all its variants, will soon come to an end.

To kickstart the blogging week, I am posting a new Goodreads Monday update. In the past two months, I have been focusing on the works of European literature, save for works written by Nobel Prize in Literature. Nonetheless, the journey included some of the most heralded writers from different parts of the continent such as the UK’s Angela Carter, Serbia’s Aleksandar Tišma, Norway’s Tarjei Vesaas, Albania’s Ismail Kadare, Czech Republic’s Milan Kundera, and Italy’s Umberto Eco. Each writer brought a different flavor to the table, something that spiced up my reading journey. This array of flavors ensured that my palate is always occupied with different flavors. I am currently reading my first book written by Austrian writer Stefan Zweig, Beware of Pity. But for this Goodreads Monday update, I am featuring a familiar name whose works I have never explored before: Jean-Paul Sartre.

I mean, who hasn’t heard of Jean-Paul Sartre? He is a popular French playwright who is also renowned for his philosophy on existentialism. He also won the Nobel Prize in Literature; he did attempt to refuse the award. Despite his popularity, I haven’t read of his work, which is kind of unfortunate. To be honest, I am kind of intimidated. Existentialism is a foreign concept to me still, at least where literature is concerned. Nonetheless, my willingness to expand my reading horizon made brushing up with his corpus inevitable. Moreover, I am innately curious and Sartre has certainly piqued my interest. What better way to start with his literary ensemble than with a book listed as one of 1,001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, Nausea. It was his only work on the list.

Judging from the blurb alone, it seems to encapsulate all that Sartre is known for, which, I guess makes it more logical for me to start with this book. Oops. I just learned that Nausea was also Sartre’s first novel! That gives it more appeal to me considering that I have been curious about the debut works of renowned writers. For now, the goal is to obtain a copy of the novel. How about you fellow reader? What books are you looking forward to? I hope you can share it in the comment box.

Advertisement